S.O.B.
S.O.B. was a middleweight robot that competed in the final two seasons of BattleBots. It was a unique design which used a front "dustpan" to scoop up robots and then bring down an arm which had a circular saw blade attached to deal damage. The saw didn't do all that much damage, however, and S.O.B. won most of its fights on judge's decisions due to its ability to control opponents with the dustpan. S.O.B. lost its first fight in Season 4.0 due to a mechanical failure, but made it all the way to the final of Season 5.0 before losing to T-Minus. S.O.B. stood for "Sony Online BattleBot", to go along with the team (Sony Online Entertainment). After BattleBots, the team painted it red and changed its name to That Darn Dustpan! S.O.B. was originally going to be armed with a spring-loaded spiked hammer, but the team knew their firing mechanism would not pass safety and so made the saw arm as a last-minute weapon. Robot History Season 4.0 S.O.B. fought Maggot in its only Season 4.0 fight. After a false start, S.O.B. was having trouble with both its saw and one of its drive motors, but a lift by Maggot fixed the drive problem and after a second lift S.O.B. got under Maggot and drove it into the spikestrip. S.O.B. tried to bring the saw down, but since it still would not spin it used the arm as a hammer, bashing Maggot several times before being told to back off. S.O.B. did so and then immediately scooped Maggot up again, hitting Maggot a few more times before the fight ended. A 23-22 split decision in favor of Maggot knocked S.O.B. out of the tournament. Season 5.0 After a slight overhaul which included the lowering of the main chassis, S.O.B. was ready for the fifth phase of BattleBots. Its first opponent in the preliminary rounds was Knee-Breaker. This fight was easy for S.O.B., as Christian Carlberg was unable to maneuver Knee-Breaker away from the dustpan bot, and was thoroughly damaged by S.O.B.'s circular saw. After the full 3 minutes had elapsed, S.O.B. came out victorious on a 28-17 judge's decision. Following this win, S.O.B. was able to exact its revenge on Maggot, winning on a 31-14 judge's decision, before reaching the final preliminary round against WulfBane. This fight was easy for the team as well, as WulfBane had a high ground clearance and attempted to drive around S.O.B. but as S.O.B. had a wider turning circle, kept ending up in the dustpan and resulted in another win for S.O.B., ending up at a 27-18 judge's decision. S.O.B. then scored a tough 24-21 judge's decision on Scrap Daddy Flipskanker in the first TV round before reaching the round of 32 against Twin Paradox. The fight began with S.O.B. instantly charging across the arena and scooping up Twin Paradox before driving itself into the screws with Twin Paradox escaping. Both robots then maneuvered around each other for a while before Twin Paradox struck the tray of S.O.B. with its disc, sending it into S.O.B. S.O.B. rammed Twin Paradox into the spikestrip, trapping it with its circular saw before spinning it up to speed and producing a shower of sparks. S.O.B. then cut into Twin Paradox again, producing even more sparks. Eventually, S.O.B. stopped its weapon, backed up and let Twin Paradox get away but Twin Paradox drove straight into S.O.B., letting it get a few more slices in with its saw. Afterwards, S.O.B. pushed Twin Paradox into the pulverizer before resuming its offense. Twin Paradox escaped but was clearly having control problems, driving over the killsaws and reversing directly into S.O.B.'s dustpan, where it was carried around for a while with S.O.B. taking a shot from the killsaws in the process. A few more attacks and S.O.B.'s arm motor began smoking and was unable to drive on one side. Both robots, now crippled, spent the remainder of the match attempting to hit each other but not getting any shots in. The match ended and it went to the judges, who scored a 26-19 win for S.O.B., putting it into the round of 16 against T-Wrex. Not much happened at the beginning of the fight, with both robots positioning for an attack. T-Wrex got in a slight hit with its tail on the rear of S.O.B., but backed off. A while later and T-Wrex drove straight into S.O.B., where S.O.B. deployed its circular saw and caused a great deal of titanium sparks. S.O.B. then tried to drive T-Wrex into the pulverizers but it escaped before any damage was done. T-Wrex rammed S.O.B. but got caught in its tray, allowing S.O.B. to cut a bit more into T-Wrex before it got away. Both robots then crashed into hazards before T-Wrex lured S.O.B. into the killsaws, where it was sent flying. T-Wrex then rammed and thwacked S.O.B. again, before carrying it on its back due to another killsaw toss. T-Wrex reversed S.O.B. into the spikestrip but after a brief attack from S.O.B., got its tail caught in the spikestrip seam, where it was unable to pull itself away. S.O.B. won by knockout in 2:26. Wrath Jr. was S.O.B.'s next opponent in the quarterfinals. This fight mainly involved Wrath Jr. charging into S.O.B., getting stuck in its dustpan, and S.O.B. slamming its non-functioning saw into Wrath Jr. Wrath Jr. also took a shot from the pulverizer, and S.O.B ran over the killsaws. A 26-19 judge's decision put S.O.B. into the semifinals against Turtle. Turtle had been severely damaged during its previous fight against Ankle Biter, and was not repaired sufficiently before going up against S.O.B. It turned out that Turtle's shell was bent so much it was scraping the floor and so the robot was barely able to move. S.O.B scored numerous points with its awe-inspiring circular saw before winning with a 31-14 judge's decision. S.O.B. had made it into the middleweight finals alongside T-Minus after 8 straight victories. The two competitors approached each other slowly, not wanting to expose itself to the opposition. Eventually, S.O.B. scooped up T-Minus' side in its tray and brought its circular saw down, causing some sparks. T-Minus tried to flip but missed before being driven into the spikestrip by S.O.B., where it used its saw to grind part of T-Minus' flipper. T-Minus flipped at that moment however, and pushed S.O.B.'s arm back, disabling S.O.B's saw. T-Minus then chased S.O.B. across the BattleBox with the latter driving over the killsaws. T-Minus then got its flipping arm under S.O.B.'s dustpan and tried to flip again but flipped itself. T-Minus self-righted after a few attempts and continued the fight. T-Minus then went around the rear of S.O.B. and flipped it successfully, but S.O.B. landed on its wheels. Following a shot from the killsaws, S.O.B. was able to reactivate its circular saw but received damage to its drive-train, allowing T-Minus to get under again and flip S.O.B. upside down. In the midst of self-righting, T-Minus pushed S.O.B. into the spikestrip, where part of its pan prevented it from getting off. It tried slamming its saw into its pan and on the BattleBox floor but had no luck and was counted out in 1:53, being eliminated from the competition. S.O.B. couldn't compete in the middleweight royal rumble cause they had been canceled after an incident with Nightmare in the heavyweight consolation rumble. Results Wins/Losses *Wins: 8 *Losses: 2 Category:Competitors Category:BattleBots Competitors Category:Middleweight Robots Category:US Robots Category:Robots with more wins than losses Category:Robots with Circular Saws Category:Robots armed with unique weapons Category:Runners Up Category:Robots with Ramming Blades Category:Robots with acronyms for names Category:Robots with Mascots Category:Battlebots Quarter-Finalists Category:Battlebots Semi-Finalists Category:Battlebots Season 4.0 competitors Category:Battlebots Season 5.0 competitors Category:Robots from California